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Category: Health care

I have a wealth of things to be thankful for this year. No health problems, no home disasters, no natural disasters. A promotion and big raise, and lots of praise at work, where I make a difference every day. I am so fortunate to have been born in the United States of America, the very best place on Earth, the place that everyone in less-developed parts of the world wants to come to. [If the USA is such a bad, racist, misogynist, homophobic, capitalistic, place, just why do so many “migrants” clamor to be admitted?]

Tulip Fields near Mount Vernon, WA

And it helps that I live in one of the most beautiful corners of the United States, the Pacific Northwest. My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last month, and we are lucky to be in good health and fine spirits. And here’s a toast to the superlative American medical system, which got him through knee-replacement surgery in fine style-he is mostly recovering, and back at his squash workouts again. I love my Sweetie!

I have been a member of two warm, welcoming conservative blog sites, Ricochet and Ratburger. I have posted both places, as well, as here, and garnered comments and friendly argument (ONLY on conservative sites and with conservative people can “friendly argument” not be an oxymoron). I am especially thankful for all the members from both sites, for keeping me sane in an increasingly insane world. And Thanksgiving can’t go by without mention of the One who inspires me each day, the Doctor of Democracy, Rush Limbaugh.

And here’s a little Thanksgiving present for the followers and readers of Calling-all-RushBabes. Thanks for helping make my blog a success! Click on the link below.

May I add my disgust at the results of yesterday’s election. I am ashamed to be a resident of the state where the voters vote themselves higher taxes, boondoggle projects that waste their dollars (choo-choo train that 1% of the population will ride), essentially disarm their police (after I 940 passes with 60% support, police will be regulated to death and almost have to ask the criminal’s permission to respond with deadly force-the initiative Curbs Police Violence!!); disarm themselves with gun regulations (I 1639 adds more onerous regulation of legal firearms owned by law-abiding citizens, thus reducing every citizen’s ability to defend himself from the increasing crime, especially in cities); and make all the more certain that more ineffective social programs are coming.

The voters of WA sent an abortion-supporting Pediatrician(!) to Congress, turning Blue a district that has been Red for many years; voted down their loudest voice in the State House against the predations of un-Sound Transit (I wish Mark Harmsworth much luck and prosperity in the rest of his life, and mourn that I do not live in his district), and sent even more D’s to the state legislature. [And the Board of un-Sound Transit is about to give the Capo di Tutti Capi a big raise-on MY DIME]. I always knew my own district was a lost cause (the ass with the perpetual sneer who is NOT my “representative” in Congress received 72% of the vote) and the entire state is even a bigger lost cause now. Of the ten WA congressional districts, seven are now represented by Democrats.

As expected, the citizens of Seattle voted themselves another huge “families and education levy” that will not improve either families or education (throwing money at problems never solves them). But then, the liberals who tax themselves to death do not CARE whether they have any effect whatsoever; they just feel so good that they are helping (which they do not).

State voters did do a couple of good things. They emphatically rejected yet another “carbon fee”, which we recognize is really a Carbon Tax, and they made illegal the banning or taxing of particular food products by local jurisdictions (here’s looking at you, Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax).

Well, the citizens of the State of Washington get exactly the government they elect. I just wish I didn’t have to live with what the Democ-Rats vote for.

[Author’s Note: October 14, 2018. A Movie has been made about this Butcher of Philadelphia. I urge ALL my followers and readers to see this movie. I especially urge my so-called “pro-choice” readers to see this movie. From comments that have appeared over at Ricochet.com, no one can see this movie without becoming emotional, so take your tissues if you see the movie. And, like below from 2013, the Drive-by Media (hat tip to Rush Limbaugh for the descriptor) is ignoring this phenomenon.]

This story has been totally ignored by the “mainstream media”, because it reflects badly on one of their favored groups, Abortion Supporters. Following is a link to the Grand Jury Findings in this butcher’s trial in Pennsylvania.

Wednesday, July 25 through Monday, July 30, we were again at sea, and you know what that means… Lectures! The weather wasn’t conducive to much deck-walking, but I did get a few ocean and cloud pictures. This was the last picture of Hawaiian waters.

July 25 speakers were Roger Kimball on “Trump vs The Elites”; John Steele Gordon on “A Brief History of American Medical Insurance”; Dr. Arnn on the history of the Administrative State; and George Neumayr on the political papacy of Pope Francis. The Pope has been the subject of lively discussions, both on the cruise and on Ricochet among the site’s many devoted Catholics, and Mr. Neumayr’s talk generated lots of questions. In fact, the ship’s Irish-Catholic chaplain had some slightly-hostile remarks which Neumayr fended off masterfully. We took home a signed copy of his book entitled The Political Pope, which is a must-read.

Thursday, July 26 saw a new roster of speakers. Nick Lloyd discussed the part of World War I from 1915-17; Patrick Caddell discussed media and polls; and Walter Russell Mead spoke on “Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World”. I brought home Mead’s book God and Gold, and it is proving to be a very interesting treatment of the history of Western Civilization with an emphasis on the invaluable contributions of the English-speaking countries.

This is what the view was from the Promenade Deck that day.

And this is what we saw from the Churrascaria restaurant that evening.

Friday, July 27, brought more captivating lectures. Michael Ramirez gave a history of the editorial cartoon, with ample examples of his own work. Victor Davis Hanson discussed the Battle of Midway, and John Steele Gordon spoke on the history and future of money (which everyone was very attentive to, for obvious reasons). After lunch, Michael Walsh spoke on the decline of music in Western culture, a subject that interests me greatly. I have never been very fond of recently-composed music, since it seems to me to be aimed at the composer rather than the listener, and if you can’t please the audience, your music might not get played or sung very much.

Here’s the view from our balcony on Friday.

On the trip home, the sea was pretty rough, and we got excellent balance practice every time we walked anywhere. I was lucky, and never completely lost my balance, even in the pitching, rolling shower! Saturday’s lectures were by Walter Russell Mead on US foreign policy, George Neumayr on the “never-ending investigation”, and Nick Lloyd on the end of World War I.

On Sunday, July 29, we approached land again, toward Ensenada, Mexico. I could tell that we were nearing land when the color of the water changed, the skies grew lighter, and the air was warmer.

I couldn’t sleep well Saturday night, so I was up at dawn to capture this beautiful sunrise.

The water was very calm, and almost seemed to melt into the sky, making the horizon almost disappear.

My followers will know that I love watching the wake of a big ship, and I have pictures of the Washington State Ferries, as well as the cruise ships I have sailed on. I just love the patterns the wake makes in the water.

This is an island off the west coast near Ensenada, called Todos Santos Island.

I had to zoom in to see it, but about 3/4 of the way down the slope to the right, there is a structure that I saw was a big cross, which is consistent with the name of the island.

We could tell there was a big school of fish out there, due to the presence of seagulls and pelicans having a fine time fishing for breakfast.

This guy came out to meet us. The name on the boat was PilotoII, indicating that he was a Harbor Pilot, assigned to guide us into the crowded harbor at Ensenada. See how his wake is twice as wide as he is.

Then, I saw something that reminded me of home in the Puget Sound. There were a few big buoys out in the harbor, and this one was occupied. By a local sea lion, a kind of seal.

In Seattle, big sea lions rest on the buoys, and use them as a spot to fish for passing salmon. I’m betting this guy was fishing too, and he has a gull to keep him company (and compete for fish).

That’s our wake in the water of Ensenada.

We also saw numerous Mexican tour boats which go out of Ensenada, all filled with enthusiastic tourists. When we landed and walked around, we saw people lined up for the next tour.

I saw this structure in the harbor, just outside the working waterfront, and wondered what it might be. Followers, can you enlighten me perhaps?

As we approached our berth at the cruise-ship terminal, we got to watch this container ship, the COSCO Indonesia, being loaded with containers. COSCO is a big Chinese state-owned shipping company. It was fun watching the orange crane picking up and placing containers precisely where they should go.

Here are some more highlights of the Ensenada harbor.

Homes on the hillside above the harbor.

I think this is one of the biggest flags I’ve ever seen. Those Mexicans are proud of their country!

Nice Marina they have there. There’s another one on the other side of the harbor.

Our berth-mate that day was the much-larger Carnival Inspiration.

The cruise terminal at Ensenada is very colorful, and has a building with lots of shops where the locals sell their wares.

The fountain is a very convenient bird-bath, and this gull was taking his daily shower. Ensenada, in Baja California, has a very dry climate with little rain, so you can understand how the gull takes advantage of what humans have provided.

Upon disembarking, we walked around the bay to a crowded, lively marina shopping area, and took in the sights and sounds of Ensenada.

My husband, who plays accordion, got a kick out of this little band.

All too soon, it was time for us to board the Crystal Symphony, for the journey back to San Francisco. Monday, July 29, was a sea day, and we had lectures by Michael Walsh and Pat Caddell. The final lecture of the cruise was supposed to be Dr. Arnn discussing Hillsdale’s Mission. But it turned out that Dr. Arnn left the cruise at Ensenada, to answer the call of Betsy DeVos, the Education Secretary, to go to Washington DC to discuss education. Since he was not there, the Hillsdale crew cooked up a big panel discussion with all the remaining speakers, and the audience asked lots of interesting questions. The Hillsdale cruisers are well-educated bunch, and we all thoroughly enjoyed all the lectures and all the speakers.

Monday, July 31, we arrived back in San Francisco. We had packed the night before, and when it was time, we all filed into the Starlite Club ballroom to await our group being called.

When we disembarked, we boarded a bus for the ride to the airport. We got checked in, and awaited our flight back to Seattle. Once in the air, I pointed my camera out the window, and got some spectacular cloud pictures. And mountains, too.

The cruise had been wonderful, but we were glad to be home. And the kitty was glad to have us back, too.

Next year’s Hillsdale cruise will be to the British Isles, to celebrate the conclusion of the project involving the complete Churchill biography and documents. We don’t know yet if we will go, but we will have this year’s cruise to remember for a long time.

By Day Four, we had gotten well into the routine of morning and afternoon lectures, broken up by an awesome breakfast buffet, walks on the deck when the weather permitted, lunch by the window, and just relaxing in the stateroom. Most of the time, it was too windy and cold on the deck to sit outside much, which was a disappointment.

Day Four began with a walk out on the Promenade Deck 7, with my camera, around 7AM.

This is the view off the starboard bow.

Isn’t this just the Deep Blue Sea? I really could not get over how blue the water was in the North Pacific. Achingly Blue.

Look! You can see the curvature of the earth!

This is part of the mechanism that lifts lifeboats into and out of the water. I took a bunch of pictures of all the equipment on board that is there to ensure that everyone gets off alive in the event of a disaster.

The first lecture of the morning was by historian and journalist John Steele Gordon, who spoke about the economy under Obama, and under Trump. He spoke to a rapt audience, and took spirited questions later.

Next came Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal columnist, discussing the US, Israel, and the fate of my Jewish people.

The final morning speaker was our friend Michael Walsh, whom we met on the Alaska cruise in 2016, and had dinner with on this cruise on the first evening. His talk was on Politics and the Arts, about which he writes in his newest book The Fiery Angel. Walsh is a delightful guy, and we met him and his delightful wife, Kate, often in our strolls around the ship, mostly after dinner at the Avenue Saloon.

After lunch, was the lecture we’d all been waiting for. Michael Ramirez, political cartoonist, spoke and showed pictures from his book “Give Me Liberty or Give Me ObamaCare”, which was a riot. He had his audience laughing and groaning in turns.

Mild-mannered-looking gentleman, but his wit is biting, and he knows just where to hit Liberals.

In the afternoon after the last lecture, I again walked the deck looking for likely pictures.

My readers will know my love of clouds, and I sure found some beautiful ones on this cruise.

Oh, yeah, and there’s the Pool Deck, where many passengers spent hours getting a tan. See that gazebo on the left? They had a band playing there in the afternoon.

The big lecture attraction of Day Five was Patrick Caddell, the self-described Democrat pollster, opining on what has happened to the Democratic Party. I have already done one post on his talk, and I can’t really say much more, except that his lecture brought down the house. He got rousing applause often during his speeches. He deserved it!

We also heard from Roger Kimball again, and Victor Davis Hanson, who spoke on the Second World Wars. This was in preparation for our arrival in Honolulu, home of Pearl Harbor. Mr. Hanson spoke without notes, which was very impressive.

I admit that I took my camera to all the lectures, and sometimes I’d just point it at something in the room and snap. The Galaxy Lounge was the place all the Broadway shows were staged, and I was intrigued by the complex lighting arrangement on the ceiling.

Late on this day, things started to get stormy outside, and we hit some fairly rough seas. I said many times during this voyage that we were getting great balance practice! It’s a wonder more people didn’t fall when the ship was pitching and rolling around. When was the last time you took a shower on a moving vehicle? That’s an experience in itself!

Looked at from this angle (looking down from our veranda to the Promenade Deck below), the water looks almost black. Isn’t light wonderful? That’s the last of Day Five.

Like this:

It’s a miracle of modern technology and medicine. See the picture below.

This is me. I now look like this all day while I’m awake. Please notice that I am not wearing glasses. For the first time in 63 years, I can see the world without Coke-bottle glasses, and that’s a miracle in my book.

I have had cataracts for many years, and they got worse within the last two years. I had to start taking my glasses off to read, about a year ago. I started having trouble reading my computer screen at work, which was very annoying. So I made an appointment with the ophthalmologist at my local clinic. We discussed what my options were, and I decided to have cataract surgery, and get implanted lenses, which would correct for both of my problems (nearsightedness and astigmatism). This would be expensive, but that’s what I have savings for.

Last Tuesday morning, I had the first of two surgeries, on the left eye, which is the worst. I arrived at the clinic around 8AM, and there was an extensive pre-op routine where they put what seemed like a liter of various eye-drops in my eye, and inserted a Luer-lock port in my hand to allow IV sedation during the surgery. That was the only painful part, and it wasn’t very painful. Around 9AM, they wheeled me into the OR, and I introduced myself to the doctor and nurses. The anesthesiologist injected the sedative, and I was draped with sterile drapes, and my face was cleaned with old-fashioned Betadine. I got more eye-drops, and the surgery itself began. You may not believe this, but I actually enjoyed the surgery while it was going in. I was awake, and it looked to me like a light-show of various colored shapes. I remember thinking that if I were an artist, I would like to paint what I saw. [I apologize if this gives you the willies].

The operation took about 15 minutes, and I was wheeled back into the Recovery area. After about a half-hour of recovery, and finally being able to drink something (no food or drinks after midnight the night before is standard), hubby brought the car around, and we went home. I could already see that the surgery was a success. I could see things out of the left eye, like the clock display in the car, that were a blur to the right eye. I had a feeling that this would be life-changing for me. We got home, and I finally had breakfast. I went home with three different eye drops, which I had to use every two hours while awake for the first two days. What a pain! After breakfast, I decided to just go back to bed, and I slept about four hours. When I got up, I started getting used to my new vision. For the first day, it looked like there was a gauzy curtain over the world, but that dissipated by Tuesday night.

I discovered that the human brain doesn’t take long to compensate for the different vision-capabilities in the two eyes. When looking at distant objects, everything is clear, even though one eye is still uncorrected. It is really remarkable when I cover my right eye and only look through the left. I can see!!!! I see my bedside clock without having to squint.

The next day, Wednesday, Hubby drove me to an 8AM post-op appointment at the clinic. The nurse tested my vision, and my left eye, which was 20/200, tested at 20/25! It’s not perfect, but it really is an earth-shaking improvement. I don’t have the superlatives to describe how wonderful it is to be able to see without glasses. That evening, I had my second wonderful experience. I took a shower, and was able to see everything in the bathtub! I will never again lose the sponge if I drop it on the floor. I can see where the drips are, and wipe them off.

I went back to work on Thursday, and it was an adventure. No more washing my glasses when they get dusty. I can see my computer monitors without squinting, and unfortunately I can see clearly all the emails in my inbox! [I have limited backup in my department, so every little issue has to wait for me to return if I’m out] I was pleased when two of my coworkers said I looked ten years younger. After work, I had another new experience. I had a haircut, and I could actually see what the hairdresser was doing while she worked! In the past, I had to remove my glasses, and just trust that she was doing what I wanted, and now I can watch. This is heaven!

The “intra-ocular lens” technology has been around for a while, but it’s only fairly recently that it became advanced enough to correct astigmatism. I have always been in awe of the things human ingenuity has been able to accomplish, and I never take any of it for granted. As the population of most countries ages, this kind of surgery is becoming more common, and eye surgeons do thousands every month. It is minimally-invasive, ambulatory surgery, and has become almost commonplace in most advanced countries. Medicare and most insurance plans cover it, so if it is recommended, there should be few if any obstacles to a person being able to get back nearly-perfect vision.

I am looking forward to getting the right eye done in two weeks. I am also looking eagerly forward to joining the ranks of people who keep losing their sunglasses! I can now go out and shop for fashion non-prescription sunglasses to take on our cruise to Hawaii in July. The doctor said I might also need reading glasses for close work, so I can shop for those too, and become a member of the “left their reading-glasses somewhere” tribe. It is fortunate that Costco sells them in packs of four! I am going to be enjoying this miracle of good vision without glasses, for a very long time. It’s a miracle!

Like this:

2017 was an “on the other hand” year for RushBabe49. For every great thing that happened, there was something disgusting in return. No good thing goes un-punished, and 2017 was a great example. Starting in January with the inauguration of duly-elected President Donald Trump. Election night in 2016 was the most fun I had had in years, spending hours on the live chat on Ricochet. Many members’ comments were priceless, and when we went to bed that night (some stayed up until the wee hours of the next morning) we were elated. But the Left’s tantrums at having been defeated were not terribly unexpected, but they were more violent than we thought. The “Resistance” was immediate and loud, and we have been putting up with it for the entire year.

This response shows the level of culture of the majority of leftists. They immediately start with the worst curse words they can come up with. Too bad, President Trump remained in office. The resistance was also widespread within the bureaucracy in DC, and every one of the new president’s appointments was drawn-out and fought tooth and nail by the “deep state”. I remember being on a trip in February, and being regaled by all the crap thrown at Michael Flynn, who was forced out of his position for communicating with the Russian ambassador, which was part of his job!

The Deep State and the Democrat Senate Losers tried their best, but they could not stop the nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, one of President Trump’s most important achievements in his first year in office. President Trump has also had confirmed twelve new federal Circuit Court judges, a victory for Constitutionalism.

On the other hand, 2017 was marked by numerous murders of police officers, many in ambush situations, all over the United States. By July, the total of police officers killed in the line of duty had risen nearly 20% from 2016. The Ferguson Effect, where community members not only do not help the police solve local crimes, but positively hinder them, was much in evidence. The murder rate in cities like Chicago and Baltimore skyrocketed, as gang members felt more comfortable carrying on their wars in many neighborhoods.

The employment situation in the US improved in 2017, as companies brought jobs back from overseas and opened new factories. About 1.7 million new jobs were created in Donald Trump’s economy, and the stock markets reached new record-highs multiple times throughout the year. Locally, tech companies have been on hiring sprees, with software engineers and systems analysts able to field multiple job offers and basically write their own tickets.

On the other hand, the cost of living in many big cities has also gone up so high as to price non-techies out of the housing market. Landlords raise rents, and ordinary working stiffs have to leave town to find places they can afford to live. Those of us who own our homes already just face increasing property taxes and utility fees, but we can remain in our homes.

On the other hand, we saw huge data-breaches that exposed the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans, who had NO choice of where their data were stored. The big breach at the credit-reporting giant Equifax brought it home to Americans how fragile their hold is on their privacy. The subject of cyber-security was a big one in 2017, and promises to remain so in the new year, and for the foreseeable future.

President Donald Trump’s 2017 economy also brought the opening up of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines and the opening up of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in places to oil exploration to increase America’s energy independence. And the best news of all, the most consequential tax reform of recent history was passed in December, ensuring that the majority of Americans will see the government confiscating less of their hard-earned money. The tax bill repealed the individual mandate of ObamaCare, so many young people will not be required to purchase unaffordable health “insurance” or pay a huge fine/tax. Since their employers will also be paying less to Uncle Sam, employees may get another benefit from the new tax laws. Many big companies have already announced special bonuses for their employees (including those sleazy liberal TV commentators who swore the bill was horrible for the country).

President Trump’s foreign policies have also borne fruit, with ISIS being deprived of most of the territory they held, the UN de-funded of $285 million, and Jerusalem being declared the Capital of the State of Israel. We have now brought the Israelis back as our friends, when the Obama administration had denigrated them and sided with the anti-Semites in Europe.

On the other hand, 2017 has brought increasing conflict (mostly words so far on our part) with the madman at the head of North Korea, and the mullahs who still rule in Iran. But President Trump is doing his best to unravel the one-sided Iran nuclear “deal” which was a terrible bargain for the US. 2018 is bound to bring more tensions on those fronts, but America will now be dealing from a position of Greatness, not leading from behind.

Illegal immigration to the United States has gone down dramatically since Donald Trump was elected, and that is in the absence of the border wall! This shows that even the expectation of action can affect the behavior of those who might be affected by the action. On the other hand, the “deep state” judiciary has continued to throw obstacles in the way of the President’s legitimate power to allow or not allow anyone to enter the US. This makes me very angry, and so far every one of the “bans of bans” that makes it to the Supreme Court gets overturned. I hope that in the New Year the Supreme Court will be able to finally rule that the Executive Branch is solely in charge of immigration policy.

Personally, my own situation has remained very good in 2017 and going into the new year. Hubby and I are still gainfully-employed, mostly healthy, and comfortable in our home, with our owner, Kikyo the black cat. I again played the full-length Messiah the day after Christmas, and was just transported by the wonderful singing of the choir; an excellent end to the season.

I extend my best wishes to all my readers and followers at Calling-All-RushBabes for a very Happy New Year of 2018.

Oh, yes, here are my two last photos of 2017, taken on a shopping trip this afternoon.